Blue and Unassuming Under the Christmas Star is a seasonal spin-off from Jackie Mallon's book, Silk for the Feed Dogs. The story returns to the problems of the loveable but habitually disaster-prone Kat as she tries to find some Christmas spirit in the hearts of the famously grumpy New Yorkers. Jackie Mallon manages to capture what it … Continue reading Festive fun: Jackie Mallon’s Fairytale of New York
An Excerpt from Penthouse F, Book 2 in the Central Park West Trilogy by Richard Kalich
Central Park West Trilogy is under promotion at Amazon.co.uk and the e-book will be available for the fantastic price of £0.99 until the end of August. Don't miss your chance to discover Richard Kalich's outstanding work practically for free. "- You noticed Mr. Kalich and the young woman as soon as they entered the women’s … Continue reading An Excerpt from Penthouse F, Book 2 in the Central Park West Trilogy by Richard Kalich
An unmissable book at an unbeatable price
Bring New York on holidays with you with this August promotion of Richard Kalich's Central Park West Trilogy : it's only £0.99 on Amazon UK until the end of the month! *** – So we are going to do this like a courtroom drama, or an interrogation? – Yes. We are. We are indeed. – Why? – Because most … Continue reading An unmissable book at an unbeatable price
Interview with Richard Kalich in AM FM Magazine
"High Art can of course be found in all the disciplines, music, painting, all creative writing, film, etc. For me…all that I define as High Art has but one categorical imperative. It makes as its inherent demand and calling that we, as humans, stand before it and surrender ourselves wholly and completely to it. It … Continue reading Interview with Richard Kalich in AM FM Magazine
Richard Kalich: How I Write
I don't have a method but... and it’s a big ‘but’... I can speak of a pattern that has repeated itself with all four of my novels. And the same will be true with my next. I see my novels metaphorically. By that I mean an image comes to me... and that image, that poetic metaphoric image, contains all I need … Continue reading Richard Kalich: How I Write
Richard Kalich’s interview on Books Go Social
"I’m not completely nihilistic. I believe that as long as we can still ask questions about the meaning of it all, there’s hope for an authentic life." Richard Kalich in conversation with Lucy Sweeny Byrne on Books Go Social http://buff.ly/1Abb7VC
Happy New Year! “The Party” by Richard Kalich
Tired of being a stay-at-home and a couch potato, Charlie P gives a gala New Year’s Eve party which not only he but nobody else attends. Even Charlie P was surprised at the turnout. To be sure, this is the best party he’s never been to. The one he would least have wanted to miss. … Continue reading Happy New Year! “The Party” by Richard Kalich
Kindle edition of GIFTS free this week!
Christmas is not always magic but good books always are. Whether you love or hate Christmas, you might enjoy a good story. Our collection GIFTS: NINE BITTERSWEET CHRISTMAS STORIES is free on Amazon this week: getBook.at/FREE_GIFTS
GIFTS on www.BookDepository.com
A limited print edition of GIFTS is now also available here: http://www.bookdepository.com/Gifts-Betimes-Books/9780992967444 Free delivery worldwide!
Kat, Edward, Gatsby, Capote…and Kevin
The Plaza Hotel in NYC by Jackie Mallon
The Plaza Hotel is legendary.
It opened in 1907 when rooms cost $2 50 per night. Now they cost around $800. At the time it placed the largest ever single order for gold-encrusted china and boasted 1,650 crystal chandeliers.
In today’s New York it looks discretely down its nose at all these precious little lifestyle and boutique hotels, hipster upstarts serving their Stumptown coffee as if that can begin to compete with the ceiling of the Palm Court.
As a Manhattan landmark it represents the regal opulence of The Great Gatsby and not the Trumped up hubris of The Donald. It continues to be a goddess of the silver screen from its first starring role in Hitchcock’s 1959 thriller North By Northwest to parts in The Way We Were, The Great Gatsby, Almost Famous, Sex & The City, and American Hustle.
Scene from 2013’s The Great Gatsby set…
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Kat and Edward at Christmas
Jackie Mallon about her story in our Christmas collection GIFTS
When Silk for the Feed Dog was published in September 2013, I breathed a huge sigh of relief. There was the obvious reason: I was setting it free to be read and hopefully enjoyed––or to be ignored or, God forbid, hated––but at least it was getting an opportunity to go off and make something of itself. The other reason for the relief was that I was free too.
Mercy me, I didn’t have to spend any more time with that Kat and Edward pair!
We’d been living in each other’s pockets for four years. We knew each other’s quirks and foibles, bad habits, and could finish each other’s sentences. We badly needed a break from each other.
Se ya, wouldn’t want to be ya! I didn’t even wave.
I rallied the old brain cells and giddily embarked on a new writing project.
Initially the lightness about me was intoxicating. Everything…
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Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Richard Kalich
From “The Party” by Richard Kalich: “The entire affair was catered by the world’s greatest chefs, and platters of sumptuous foods were served by geishas in kimonos and men in black. Champagne flowed like April rain. Every guest was given a token of appreciation for not attending, diamonds and gold; and for those who didn’t … Continue reading Excerpt from GIFTS: Bittersweet Christmas Stories by Richard Kalich
“Why do I write” by Jackie Mallon
This is the question posed by my blogmate, Kate at Maison Bentley Style. It’s part of a blog hop. I could never say no to Kate. She is the big hearted, ever-so-stylish epicenter of my blogging society; our intrepid heroine and our gracious hostess. She is the pre-scandal Lily Bart; the always charismatic Daisy Buchanan; the nobly independent Jo Marsh of my circle.
Why do I write, you ask, Kate? Well, that’s like asking why one would want to disappear through this little gate…
What am I working on now?
Despite weeks lost to my well-documented home search and the attendant broker, mortgage, co-op application misery, I am about two thirds of the way through my second novel. First draft, mind you. And, full disclosure, it doesn’t have a beginning yet, nor have I any idea of the route to take to arrive at the ending. But it’s still an easier…
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“Ekphrasis” by Jackie Mallon
I’ve been up on the roof. no, not to throw myself off. There’s no WiFi up there. The lengths––or heights––I will go to in order to dodge the clutches of procrastination. I have a new writing project deadline which I’ll tell you about later.
You would have loved it up there this week. You hear the city below, the symphony of sirens, a school bell faintly, voices from other rooftops that sound like seagulls’ cries, a door slamming in the belly of the building, a car horn, but the noises are all so gentle and far far away. Even though I had work to do I felt like I was on holiday. On a beach even. I felt like one of those writers with the means to retreat to an exclusive island hideaway every time they have a deadline (I’m sure these blessed individuals still exist–I don’t know any but…
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“Dollmaker” by Jackie Mallon
Jackie Mallon, the author of SILK FOR THE FEED DOGS: “We do not want to be Barbie dolls…”
I can’t hold my tongue any more. It’s abuse of position. Jeremy Scott is using the glittering Moschino name to peddle his own nasty wares. Can we call security? Get this guy outta here! This is one Scot(t) that should have been granted independence this week!
Okay, so he has a sense of humor and thinks fashion should be fun. He doesn’t know the code and is trespassing on our property
Franco Moschino had a clever, questioning, political point of view, using his fashion as a platform to tackle issues of consumerism, drugs, AIDS….and then, as well as all that, he knew how to have a laugh, yes.
Through fashion Franco bantered with women; he engaged in witty repartee. Even when he embroidered For Fashion Victims Only on our back, or Waist of Money around our middle, it was clear he loved women. There was respect behind what he did…
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Students, It’s Showtime!
Jackie Mallon, fashion designer and the author of Silk For The Feed Dogs, proudly presents the accomplishments of her students.
“Silk for the Feed Dogs, set in the international fashion industry, follows a young graduate as she strives for success while evading the snapping jaws of those villainous and ravenous “feed dogs,” gatekeepers to her dreams.”
“I never know what I really want so I flirt with the fabric a little while.”
Nassim Shadmani, born in Persia, might play coy initially but there’s no questioning her commitment to the relationship between design and fabric. She creates sumptuous and seductive dresses, as liquidy as Lanvin, using only one seam. Only one.
Nassim’s sketches
“It is from this kind of discipline I will grow as a designer.”
Ladies, you will melt. There’s vulnerability and confidence in every stitch. Inspired by the idea of contornionism, her “Bend, not break” collection plays with twisting and draping, matt and sheen, dark teal, silver and slate, slippery charmeuse and double-faced silk, to depict an unpredictable sensuality. The nonchalant ease of a slinky dressing gown with the intrigue of a geisha’s ceremonial wrapping.
Nassim was one of thirteen students representing the Art Institute of New York City who showed their graduate collections in…
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